Optimizing your global P2P without overhauling your IT system through orchestration

In large international groups, the ambition to deploy a harmonized procure-to-pay (P2P) process at company scale often runs into a well-known obstacle: tool sprawl. One ERP here, another there. A partially deployed e-procurement solution. A core model struggling to take hold. And at the heart of it all, local teams juggling business constraints, regulatory obligations, and poorly connected systems.

Faced with this complexity, many organizations consider heavy ERP overhaul projects. But is that the only way forward? What if the key wasn’t to rebuild everything - but to intelligently orchestrate what already exists?

Harmonize without standardizing: the hidden challenge of multi-ERP P2P

The idea of “One ERP” is appealing in its simplicity: one instance, one data logic, one single governance. But in international groups, local disparities, specific tax obligations, and legacy systems make this vision difficult to implement. Enforcing rigid standardization often leads to resistance and workarounds on the ground.

By contrast, orchestration allows you to leverage existing systems while establishing cross-functional consistency. If your teams are juggling multiple ERPs, if your entities must meet local compliance requirements, and if you need fast results without rethinking your entire IT infrastructure, orchestration is a strategic alternative worth exploring.

The reality of a fragmented P2P process

When a P2P process relies on disconnected tools, the effects accumulate over time. These aren’t visible failures, but a series of everyday inefficiencies that gradually weaken global performance. For instance, purchase orders may not be visible in budget tracking tools, suppliers may be registered multiple times with contradictory information, or invoices may be blocked due to missing links with contracts or receipts.

Layered on top are heterogeneous approval rules across entities, difficulties consolidating procurement performance, and an administrative burden due to manual controls. These seemingly minor frictions generate delays, operational stress, and reduce procurement’s ability to act as a true business enabler.

P2P orchestration: the missing link between tools, data and teams

Orchestrating your P2P is not about adding complexity. It’s about building a streamlined infrastructure that intelligently connects tools, data, and teams - without questioning the systems already in place. This approach helps structure process flows while respecting local specificities.

In concrete terms, it means normalizing supplier data, tax rules, or currencies across ERPs, automating flows from request to PO to invoice to payment, and applying business rules tailored by perimeter. It often relies on APIs, orchestration engines, and AI agents to simplify integration and scale fast.

Deployment is faster, adoption smoother, and ROI easier to demonstrate. The company keeps its existing backbone while gaining a coherent and flexible P2P architecture.

What P2P orchestration delivers in large organizations

Far from being a technical layer, P2P orchestration acts as a real driver of operational alignment, data reliability, and cross-functional performance. It allows complex organizations spread across multiple regions and systems to achieve consistency without imposing a full-scale rebuild. Results in the field are significant:

• 40 to 60% reduction in procurement cycle time, thanks to the removal of system gaps and automated workflows
• Improved supplier data reliability, with strong governance and automatic duplicate detection
• Real-time consolidated visibility on commitments and flows, strengthening budget tracking and procurement performance
• Automatic integration of local tax rules, including VAT and e-invoicing, reducing the need for exceptions
• Better cash flow predictability, through synchronized P2P and treasury management processes

This approach helps combine operational agility with financial discipline, while fostering greater collaboration across procurement, finance, IT, and business teams.

Conclusion: orchestration over reconstruction - a new vision for global P2P

In a large international group, technical unification isn’t always possible - or even desirable. What businesses truly need is a model that embraces diversity while enabling consistency, visibility, and performance.

P2P orchestration emerges as a pragmatic and powerful lever. It doesn’t replace - it connects. It doesn’t constrain - it structures. It doesn’t slow down - it accelerates.

👉 Curious to see how orchestration can transform your global P2P without overhauling your IT? Book a Flowie demo and explore a new way to connect procurement with enterprise performance.